A few months ago, my husband and I found two chihuahuas wandering around our front yard near the L.A. area. We aren't dog people, but I'd had a friend whose dogs were killed when a gardener left their gate open, and I didn't want anyone to go through what my friend went through. We put the dogs in our yard and put up flyers, took them to be screened for microchips, went door to door in our neighborhood, checked at the local pet store, and have heard nothing. Neither of them have been spayed or neutered, and we can't afford to pay for it. We wish we could but we just cant. They are the sweetest dogs and we don't want them to be put to sleep (our local pound is TERRIBLE), but we can't afford to keep them. I've become so disgruntled about rescue shelters in the area. Nobody will call or e-mail me back, even with advice. I can't get a hold of a single person. I wouldn't mind fostering the dogs if it was temporary, but my husband and I can't keep them. We don't have the time to give them a good home, and we can't afford their medical expenses. They are the sweetest dogs and like to sit in your lap and are incredibly well behaved. I'd hate to see anything bad happen to them. I'm sad because my husband says I need to take them to the SPCA this week.

Does anyone have any advice for us? Should we take them to the pound or is there something else we can do that we haven't thought of? We are so disgruntled about animal rescue shelters. We can't believe nobody has even called or emailed to give us advice. We tried to do a good thing, but sadly we have learned that if we see any dogs wandering around, we need to turn a blind eye and just hope they end up okay.

I've heard that chis are EXTREMELY abundant in the L.A. area, so much so that shelters are transporting them to other states where they are adopted immediately. That's likely why you're not hearing back from rescues or shelters - they're already full with chis.

There's always the option of a Chaz transport! Anyone know anyone who needs two chis??? (Unfortunately they're pretty abundant in TX as well.)

So great of you and your husband to temporarily house those little Chis. Not sure which rescues you've already contacted, but following is a rather large list for you to look at. I've tried to keep most within California, but there are contacts in other states as well. Right now there's a BIG demand for Chihuahuas in Colorado, particularly in the Denver area. (Shelters there are chock-full of large dogs, so people in Colorado looking to adopt small dogs currently have few options.) So that's one option if you have to try out of state. Good luck!!

Here's the list:

Chihuahua Rescue of Burbank (Says they never turn down any Chihuahua in need of rescue, but also lists their phone number as "for emergenices only, please". :/ )

Site above has a grid with a VERY large list of California shelters and rescue agencies, including public and private. Includes many animals and is not Chihuahua or even dog-specific. But the columns will tell you which ones to contact. You can pick and choose from this list as the last column on the right tells you the facilities that are no-kill.

Site above has a shorter list of just Chihuahua rescues, has many states including Western states. Again, there's a big demand for Chihuahuas at rescues in Colorado ... particularly Denver area, so if trying other states may want to consider Colorado first.

Since Colorado is looking for Chihuahuas, here's one specifically for that state:(Note: Web site lists as a "online store" but actually links to their rescue site)